Merlin was cleaning Arthur's clothes, like usual, bored out of his mind. He couldn't believe that the royal prat had given him work this late in the day, it was nearly dark, for goodness sake!

Finally, the ravenet finished cleaning, and stood up to head off to his chambers. Unfortunately for him, a young boy, a few years younger than the manservant, came running in.

"Are you, Merlin?" he asks, out of breath.

"Uh, yes, that's me," the warlock replies. "Why do you need me?"

"You're needed in the tavern," the boy answers.

Merlin's face falls into one of annoyance, and he complains, "It's Gwaine again, isn't it? I told him to stop using me to be his emergency contact for at the tavern." Merlin then sighs and shakes his head. He turns back to the boy and he says, "C'mon, we should head there before Gwaine does something stupid."

The boy nods and then rushes out of the room, the young warlock not for behind him.

~~~~

When the two arrive, Merlin's attention was quickly diverted to where his drunkard friend was. The man was hitting on a group of people, who clearly were rather annoyed at the presence of the drunk man.

Merlin sighs and walks over to the long haired man. He places a hand on the man's shoulder and he says, "C'mon, Gwaine. These people clearly do not want your company. Let's get you home."

"Merlin!" Gwaine exclaims, spinning around to look at his friend. He grins and wraps an arm around the boy's shoulders.

Merlin sighs and starts to walk towards the exit, holding onto his friend's arm, to make him walk with him. Gwaine frowns at being taken away from the bar, and he whines, "We can't leave yet, Merls! You only just got here!"

"Yes, I came here to get you home, so we gotta go," Merlin replies, rolling his eyes, as he continued to drag Gwaine towards the exit. "And would you please stop using me as an emergency contact?"

Gwaine doesn't get the chance to complain again, as they had already exited the tavern, and were slowly walking down the streets, towards the castle. Gwaine pouts, but lets Merlin take him away, as the other was used to doing this now.

About halfway there, Gwaine had supposedly gotten bored, so he turned his head and stared at Merlin. The boy didn't notice at first, as he was busy trying to get the half limp body of his mate towards the castle doors. When he did notice, he looked at Gwaine with a confused expression.

He sighs and looks forward again, and asks, "Why are you looking at me like that, Gwaine?"

"H've I ev'r told you 'ow pretty you 're?" Gwaine slurs, moving his free hand to trace younger's jawline.

Merlin flushes slightly, before he sighs, "Gwaine, men can't be pretty. And you should stop looking at me like that before someone notices."

"Maybe I w'nt them to no'ice?" Gwaine slurs, smirk dancing on his lips as he leans closer to the short haired man. 

Merlin could feel Gwaine's hot breath on his neck, that still smelt like the mead he had been drinking a few moments ago. Merlin shivered at the feeling, a blush creeping up his neck.

Before Merlin could reply, a group of knights approached the two. Unfortunately for them- mostly Merlin, it was their friends. Merlin was glad it was dark, as he wasn't sure how he'd explain the blush he was wearing.

Most of the group looked at the two worriedly, as most didn't even know that Merlin was the one who always got the drunkard out of the tavern almost every night. However, Leon and Percival had knowing looks on their faces, as it was rather obvious to them that it was Merlin who helped out his friend. But, what caught Merlin's eye was Lancelot. He had a worried look on his face, but Merlin could tell, behind his eyes, that he was either jealous or angry. At what, Merlin didn't know.

"Is everything alright, Merlin?" Leon asked, seeing how Merlin was struggling to get Gwaine to his room.

"No, everything's not al'ight," Gwaine complains, before Merlin could even answer, with a pout on his lips. He lays his head on the sorcerer's shoulder and continues, "Merls doesn' thin' he's pretty. I keep tellin' him he is, bu' he keeps sayin' he ain't."

Leon's eyes widened and he looked between the two, obviously in shock, much like Elyan and Mordred. Percival just snickers, not surprised in the slightest, as he had heard Gwaine's drunken confessions about Merlin, more than once before. Lancelot however, seemed to get more frustrated, his hands clenching by his sides.

Merlin clears his throat, trying to ignore the bright red blush on his face, as he says, "A-alright. I think he needs to go to bed. Goodnight."

He starts to quickly walk away, dragging a complaining Gwaine along with him, ignoring the confused and worried Knights behind.

~~~~

Once they finally reach Gwaine's quarters in the castle, Merlin opens his door, and lets go of his arm. He blows out all of the lights, apart from the one at the door, so he could get out, then walks back to the other man.

"C'mon, time to sleep," Merlin says, going to take the man's arm in his hand, to take him to his bed.

Before he could even grip the man's arm, he was spun around and slammed into the wall beside the door.

Merlin's eyes widen as he sees Gwaine smirking at him. Gwaine leans against the younger of the two, moving so his mouth was beside Merlin's ear.

He whispers into the warlock's ear, "You know, I'm not as drunk as you thought, Merlin."

The boy gulps at the closeness of them and the hot air blown over his ear. He was unsure of what to say, but it didn't matter as he knew his voice wouldn't be reliable. A bright blush was dusting his neck and cheeks, and he knew he couldn't hide it anymore.

"I meant what I said earlier," Gwaine says, moving one of the hands that were situated on the boy's waist up to his neck. He plays with the strands of hair on his neck, as he whispers, "I'm surprised you hadn't noticed my advanced earlier, I wasn't exactly being subtle."

Gwaine had moved back to look at Merlin's face when he had said the last sentence, which menat he saw the warlock squirm and flush brighter.

Gwaine smirks and waists no more time, before he smashed their lips together.

Merlin freezes at first, unsure of how to register this whole interaction, unsure of if this really was his 'friend' doing this, or whether it was the drink.

Merlin realised, he simply didn't care. He quickly started kissing the other wrapping his arm's around the brunet's neck.

Gwaine moves his hand into Merlin's hair and gently tugs, earning a surprised moan from him. Gwaine smirks and uses the opportunity to slip his tongue into the magic user's mouth, using it to explore the other's mouth.

Merlin was so in the moment, he didn't even realise his magic was bubbling to the surface, until he heard a loud smash.

The two quickly jumped away from one another and turned towards the sound. There was a smashed pot by Gwaine's bedside.

The two stared at each other for a while. Merlin was getting more and more worried that Gwaine would figure out it was him, with each second they stood their staring.

"Well whatever that was, it was clearly my drunken state," Gwaine says, shrugging. "Best be off to bed before I collapse, eh?"

Gwaine chuckles, patting the man's shoulder, before flopping onto the bed and immediately falling asleep.

Merlin sighs in relief, then quickly exits, before Gwaine could change his mind.

As he was walking back to his and Gaius' chambers, he couldn't help but trace his lips with his fingers, still able to feel the other man's lips on his own.